Spat over Indonesian Open purse nearing conclusion

Spat over Indonesian Open purse nearing conclusion

Agencies, Shanghai

A dispute over the tardy payment of prize money to players at
last month's Indonesian Open appeared to be nearing an end on
Tuesday, with the European Tour saying the rest of the money
would be handed over by the end of this week.

Players were reportedly furious after Parallel Media Group
(PMG), the promoters of the tournament which was jointly
sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, allegedly failed to
pay the full amount of money.

However, George O'Grady, executive director of the European
Tour, said in a statement released by PMG that the remainder of
the prize money would be handed over by the end of this week.

"The European Tour has received 65 percent of the ... prize
fund and we are expecting PMG to pay the remainder this week.
Thereafter the players will be paid immediately," AFP quoted him
as saying.

Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant, winner of the March 24-27 US$1
million tournament in Jakarta, is reportedly among those still
awaiting payment.

Louis Martin, chief executive of the Asian Tour, was critical
of the problem.

"It is absolutely mindblowing," he said ahead of Thursday's
start of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.

"For us at the Asian Tour, this has been totally unacceptable.
It has been five weeks since the tournament, and players are
coming up to me asking when they will get their money.

"Prize money is sacrosanct. You either pay all the players or
none. You can't just hand over 65 percent or whatever the amount
they say they've done.

"We can't differentiate between the winner and 72nd place.
They all did their job and they all should have been paid."

PMG, who claim to be the biggest promoters of professional
golf in Asia, said in a statement released on Monday that the
payment of the prize purse was according to an agreement they
made with the European Tour.

In the statement, a copy of which was made available to The
Jakarta Post, PMB said: "... the prize-purse for the Indonesian
Open adheres to the agreement that exists between themselves and
the European Tour. This states that the prize-purse will be
transferred to the European Tour according to an agreed
scheduled".

Keld Kristiansen, managing director of PMG Asia, was quoted as
saying: "(PMG is) fully committed to the building and development
of a successful golf tour in Asia, which will continue to benefit
players, sponsors and spectators alike ... We have always honored
our payments, and Indonesia is no different."